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Homemade sunscreen recipes putting kids at risk of skin cancer

Many homemade sunscreens offer little to no protection from UV rays
Credit: Lindsey Boetsch

The internet is filled with great things especially if you're a do-it-yourself kind of person. You can log onto Pinterest and find millions of recipes for a wide variety of things. But one thing that's causing concern in the medical world is the sharing of homemade sunscreens.

Dr. Julie Merten, associate professor of public health at UNF, says they're putting kids and adults at risk of a bad burn. She led a new study released in the Health Communication journal.

"We found overwhelmingly they love the sunscreens. Ninety-five percent of the pins were 'these are the best things in the world. This is a great recipe.' But we found 65 percent of them offered minimal UV protection," said Merten.

The study looked at every fifth homemade sunscreen recipe pin. She was alarmed at what they found. She says a lot of them were just coconut oil and then an essential oil, which would only have an SPF of up to six. 

She says a lot of them claim to be organic or natural but that doesn't mean it's going to protect you from sunburn. 

Homemade sunscreens are risky because they're not regulated or tested like commercial versions. Merten says it's easy on social media to share something without fully analyzing the message. 

"You don't look at the content," Merten said. "You go by, 'that's such a cute picture'. And 'look at that cute coconut oil bottle. I think I'll share that'. And someone sees it pinned and tries it on their children and the next thing you know they have a huge sunburn and they're at an increased risk for skin cancer."

The average number of saves for a homemade sunscreen pin was 808. One was saved more than 21,700 times. When you choose a sunscreen, look for something that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.

It should also be water resistant and have an SPF of 30 or higher. 

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